Brian Walton's news and commentary on the St. Louis Cardinals (TM) and their minor league system

President’s Day Cardinals this and that

On a made-for-America holiday in between two former Presidents’ birthdays, following is a series of short news items including a serious plea with a bit of self-promotion sprinkled in.

Pray for Annabelle Walters

I was honored to have been selected by the Walters family to bring their story of the 13-week premature birth of Annabelle Faith Walters to St. Louis Cardinals fans last Thursday. Since then, there has been an outpouring of prayers and support for pitcher P.J. Walters and his family from all over the Cardinal Nation.

I set up a special thread on The Cardinal Nation / Scout.com message board for fans to offer their thoughts. New grandpa Phillip Walters stops by with periodic updates. After five says, Annabelle continues to fight but remains in serious condition. Please continue to give your support any way possible.

Walters feature at the Globe-Democrat

I was asked to tell Annabelle Walters’ story to the readers of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, which I did in this article. This “touching” photo of P.J.’s fingertip in Annabelle’s tiny palm was sent along by Phillip Walters.

Minor League Notebooks coming

The Walters article is the first evidence of my new collaboration with the Globe-Democrat for the 2010 season. I will be joining their stacked Cardinals-focused line up with a Minor League Notebook column starting next Thursday, February 24 and running weekly all season long. When schedules align with need, I may also be pitching in with game coverage articles for a handful of major league contests during the upcoming regular season.

I am delighted to be given the opportunity to reach an increasingly-wider audience by Globe-Democrat sports editor Rob Rains.

Back on radio

As I have done the past few years, I will be joining afternoon hosts Ken Miller and Matt Perrault from KXnO FOX Sports Radio in Des Moines every other week for an update on the Cardinals. The exciting new news is that KXnO just signed a multi-year agreement to join the Cardinals Radio Network. Among the other Cardinals experts who appear regularly on KXnO is FOX Sports Midwest’s Pat Parris.

FOX Fantasy Guide / Scout Prospect Guide

Annual subscribers to The Cardinal Nation/Scout.com Total Access Pass prior to this January 8 should soon be receiving in the mail your copy of the 2010 FOX Fantasy Guide / Scout Prospect Guide. The prospect section of the two-part Guide includes the top prospects from all 30 MLB organizations, the annual Scout.com top 300 prospect list and much more.

As always, The Cardinal Nation is responsible for the St. Louis Cardinals prospects section and this year’s article was written by yours truly. There is also a full fantasy baseball section to help you prepare for your drafts.

For those who aren’t annual subscribers, soon, if not already, the annual Guide will be available on newsstands from coast to coast for the very-reasonable price of $4.95.

The Fantasy Baseball Guide 2010

As I do every year, I am a contributor to The Fantasy Baseball Guide 2010, which has been on sale for several weeks now for $7.99. In addition to my player capsules, picks and pans, mock draft participation and the like, my essay on taking the 2009 National League Tout Wars expert league championship is featured.

Following are some of the highlights of The Fantasy Baseball Guide 2010, edited by my long-time friend and fantasy league foe Peter Kreutzer, more widely-known simply as “Rotoman”.

Winning strategies – tips from the experts who won their leagues

Rookies – who to target this season

An NFBC-style mock draft tp prep you for your own draft

Who to target and who to avoid – the experts offer over 300 picks and pans